Zach Randolph faces possible NBA Banishment

New Sacramento Kings signee Zach Randolph was recently arrested for possession of marijuana with an intent to sell. His mistake could turn out to be more harmful to his basketball career than he thinks.

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Z-Bo was a long time member of the Memphis Grizzlies before signing a 2-year $24 million contract with the Kings earlier this summer. Most among the NBA seem to believe this move by Sacramento was an attempt to bring in leadership and a strong veteran frontcourt presence to mentor youngs in Labissiere, Cauley-Stein, and Papagiannis. This new news of Randolph’s affiliation in a possible illegal drug deal will surely give Vlade Divac and the rest of the Kings front office some buyers remorse. Though you can argue this offense is fairly minor considering many around the league have even promoted the legalization of marijuana in the NBA, the law is the law and he reportedly broke it.

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An investigation is apparently still ongoing involving Randolph, and if convicted a possible full banishment from the league could be in line for the big man. This would obviously be awful news for him, as he just signed his new deal. Though at 36 years old, this is probably the best time for him to get in some trouble. It’ll be interesting to see how Adam Silver handles the issue as throughout his first few years as commissioner, he’s shown a very open stance involving some social problems. There will be a continued debate in really all major American sports over whether to make the plant legal in their league or not.

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The other big loser if Randolph is convicted is of course the Sacramento Kings. They’ll possibly lose their new addition down low and his expected bench production for this season. Randolph has already chipped away at his reputation for getting in the news for this, and his leadership role could be diminished even if he is allowed to stay with the team. If Zach can’t play, it’ll be up to Vince Carter and George Hill to lead the young prospects this season. Though I doubt we’ve watched the last NBA game Z-Bo will play in, the new King has himself in a bad situation at the moment.